Multi-size control of homogeneous explosives by coaxial microfluidics

Abstract

The particle size and particle size distribution of explosives have a great influence on their detonation performance and application. In order to achieve the multi-size preparation of homogeneous explosives, a coaxial microfluidics platform was proposed. As a guide for designing the experiments, a model of crystallization under a microscale flow state was proposed by theoretical analysis. Besides this, the flow characteristics of coaxial microfluidics were investigated experimentally. Herein, 2,2′,4,4′,6,6'hexanitrostibene (HNS) was used to verify the applicability of the platform, which was prepared under different flow rates and flow rate ratios (R). It was found that homogeneous HNS samples with different particle sizes could be prepared using coaxial microfluidics. Furthermore, a size control model of HNS using coaxial microfluidics was established based on experimental data. This study demonstrates an efficient, safe strategy to realize the size- and uniformity-controllable preparation of explosives.